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Tuesday, 4 April 2017

Almond cake

When I moved to Sydney and, ultimately, out of home, my farewell present from myfriends was a food processor. The same one is still going strong today, pulverising and puréeing like the day I got it, about eighteen years ago now. I used it last week to make an almond cakefor a friend who's dairy-free. A little like a Middle-Eastern orange cake in that its keystone ingredients arewhole, boiled citrus (in this case, lemon as well as orange) and almonds - both of which necessitate sharp blades to blitz and blend - it also incorporates olive oil and a small amount of flour, for leavening. Something a bit different for a kitchen work horse that I'm grateful remains exactly the same.

Almond cakeAdapted from a recipe by Molly Wizenberg as published in the New York Times

Because of the olive oil and almond meal, this cake keeps really well.

Place the orange and
lemon in a saucepan, and
cover with water. Bring to a boil
over medium-high heat, then
reduce heat and simmer
for 30 minutes. Drain and cool.

Heat the oven to 325
deg F (160 C), and set a rack in the
middle position.

Bake the
almonds 10 to 15 minutes. Cool completely, then pulse
in a food processor until ground.

Preheat oven to 350 deg (180 C), and
grease a 9-inch springform tin.

When the citrus is cool, cut
the lemon in half, and discard the
pulp and seeds. Cut the orange
in half, and discard seeds. Put
the fruit in the food processor
and process almost to a paste.

Combine
eggs and salt and beat until foamy.
Beat in the sugar. Fold in the flour and baking powder. Add the citrus, almonds
and olive oil, and beat until incorporated. Pour
the batter into the tin, and bake
for about 1 hour.